Kicking Puppies: The Promise of Sci-Fi
vs. Anti-Inclusivity Brigade
Warning: This article has some frank
discussion about racism, sexism, homophobia, and transmisogyny.
I don't know if you know who the Sad
(or Rabid) Puppies are. I don't even know if you're familiar with the
Hugo Awards. You are reading a site about nerds by and for nerds, so
I'm pretty certain you know of the genres Science Fiction and
Fantasy, yes? The Hugos are an award given every year voted on by the
attendees of WorldCon. Purchasing a membership to WorldCon grants you
eligibility to vote for two years. You also take part in nominating
those pieces of fiction, be they graphic format, dramatic
presentation, novella, or other formats. This year, a voting bloc led
ostensibly by author Vox Day, organized itself to push back against
what they felt was a dearth of political correctness and diversity
shoving straight, cis, white men out of eligibility. Since the Hugo
voters are not usually very organized about their voting, this
allowed the “Sad Puppies” to dominate the nomination process,
filling multiple categories with their slate of nominees, and
claiming almost all spots in many others. That's the situation as it
stood Saturday August 22nd as the Sci-Fi and Fantasy
community watched and waited for the results.
In the months before, there had been a
great deal of discussion as to how the voting would look. The Hugo
Awards allow a vote of “No Award” if an eligible voter feels that
none of the nominees deserve the award or if they feel the category
should be abolished. Many voters spoke publicly of their plan to use
votes of No Award to fight back against what they felt was bigotry
and disingenuous behavior on the part of the puppies. In response,
the puppies lashed out that people were just being bitter and not
wanting to follow the rules.
I sat and watched the Hugos Saturday
night, waiting to see how this struggle would pan out. You see, I'm a
firm believer in the “Promise of Sci-Fi” and to a lesser degree,
what I call the “Hope of Fantasy.” I'm not the world's best
example of someone with nothing who found inspiration in Science
Fiction and Fantasy. However, I have always been a believer in the
idea that with rational thought and an open mind, humanity can reach
incredible heights. Even cautionary Science Fiction, like that
beginning with Mary Shelley, doesn't doubt the incredible things we
can accomplish. Instead, it astutely asks us to evaluate whether or
not we SHOULD take these actions. Even the grime of Cyberpunk has
this promise at its heart. While humans may still retain their
distinct flaws in the face of the future, the potential is there for
many other hopes and dreams to be realized. This ties directly to my
belief about Fantasy. Fantasy lets us hope for worlds where no matter
how strange we may seem, we are normal. The same wonder we may
achieve looking at the stars, we can also achieve imagining ourselves
as boy shepherd who one day becomes an Archmage, speaking the tongue
of creation. In these places, the marginalized can find purchase
because in these fictional worlds, they are no longer marginalized.
So as the awards unfolded and the
Twitter feeds rolled on, I watched with anticipation. Would the
institution of the Hugos be shaken by No Awards? Or would wings go to
authors like John C. Wright who have openly attacked equality of
marriage activists asking why they don't support racism as both are
“malfunctions” (for validation of these claims,
http://www.thebacklot.com/orson-scott-card-isnt-the-only-homophobic-wackjob-sci-fi-writer-out-there/08/2009/,
but again trigger warnings for all listed at the beginning of the
article and general bigotry.)
When the awards began, they began
innocently enough, with a touching tribute to Jay Lake. The next
awards to be given are the Fan awards. Julian May and Ben Yallow
received the first awards, both positive members of the fan
community. Then, after much pomp and circumstance, the rest of the
awards ceremony is underway. And I watched, eyes drooping from a
deficit of sleep, as award after award was called and the Sad Puppies
received no succor. John W. Campbell award? Wesley Chu. Then came
Elizabeth Leggett and Laura J. Mixon in the fan categories. There was
deference to the marginalized and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Then came Galatic Suburbia Radio, Journey Planet, and Lightspeed
Magazine's awards. These were prominent Feminist organizations. The
words “I'd like to thank the patriarchy” were spoken by Christie
Yant as she accepted for Lightspeed. By this point, Twitter began to
stream with jokes asking if the Sad Puppies had intended this all
along or if sad reports were being made to Vox Day about the
crumbling of the war effort.
And then the No Awards began. This
article is not a definite list of the winners. The Hugos have that
themselves as well as many far more respected journalistic
establishments. I'm only going to tell you the sweeping emotion that
began to take me as I started sending messages to friends,
colleagues, and acquaintances to tell them the results. I was taken
by the solidarity of the thing. There were many tolerable candidates
on the Sad Puppies slate, but still, the voters hold firm. They would
not negotiate with what they felt were bigots or terrorists. They
would not put up with the kind of people who would leave a stack of
vile papers on the freebies table, hoping to insult as many groups as
possible while referring to the SFWA as the “Socialist Fiction
Writer's of America.” Overall, five No Awards were announced that
night, bringing the total of No Awards given in the history of the
Hugos to five. The Sad Puppies were almost entirely shut out, with
the singular exception of “Guardians of the Galaxy” winning long
form presentation. It was a category completely full of Puppy
nominees and yet, enough voters had intended to vote for it
regardless, that it still won. It struck me, sitting there, as the
Sad Puppies' greatest loss. It was the one that proved that voting
weren't just there to spite them. They were protesting the Puppies'
methods and tactics, certainly. But they weren't beyond voting for a
option that they agreed with.
Now, in the days after, I've watched
social media ignite with spin from the Sad Puppies camp as to how
this was a victory for them as it shook the validity of the awards.
After all, what point is an awards assembly that doesn't give out
awards? To this nerd, it validated the Hugos all over again. I have
never been prouder of the Science Fiction and Fantasy communities as
I was watching the awards happen. The community came to together in
way that, sadly, my gamer community hasn't dreamed of yet, and told
the bigots that they would not be argued or reasoned with. They would
simply be shown the door.
The Sad Puppies have already vowed to
try the same stunt again next year. We can only wait and see if they
wear folks down by attrition, or if they'll be more Sad Puppies sent
to the shelter again next year.
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